Excerpt
Excerpt: The taxonomic position of the Black Sea whiting like that of a great number of Black Sea fish species is rather complicated, and is still a controversial question. According to Svetovidov (1935) the Black Sea whiting (Odontodadus merlangus euxinus) is related to genus Odontogadus, subfamily Gadinae, family Gadidae, order Gadiformes and represent subspecies of Odontogadus merlangus merlangus. The latter is distributed along the European coast (from Murmansk to Gibraltar) and in the Mediterranean. The genus name Odontogadus is given by Gill (1863). Odontogadus merlangus merlangus was described by Linnaeus (1758) as Gadus merlangus. Subsequently Cuvier (1817) detached this species from the genus Gadus, giving it the name Merlangius merlangus. The Black Sea whiting was described for the first time by Nordmann (1830) as Gadus euxinus. Some researchers consider the Black Sea and Atlantic whiting as the same fish species (Steindachner and D?Ancona - after Svetovidov, 1935), others as two species (Svetovidov). On the basis of morphometric, biological (Prodanov, 1983) and electrophoretic investigations (Dobrovolov, Dobrovolova and Prodanov, 1984) concluded that both types of whiting are separate species and gave them the following names: Merlangius merlangus (Atlantic whiting) and Merlangius euxinus (Black Sea whiting). In the FAO Yearbook of Fishery Statistics, the Black Sea whiting was presented under the name Odontogadus merlangus euxinus up to 1973, later on as Merlangius merlangus; i.e. initially it was considered a subspecies, but subsequently as identical to the Atlantic whiting. However, it is difficult to explain why whiting from the eastern Black Sea have a growth rate quite different from that in the western half of the basin. In terms of growth and life span, the fish inhabiting the eastern part of the Black Sea have an intermediate position between the two mentioned types. Therefore, assessments of the stock dynamics of the Black Sea whiting were carried out separately for the two parts of the Black Sea.